[453]. i.e. The professional Ráwis or tale-reciters who learned stories by heart from books like “The Arabian Nights.” See my Terminal Essay, vol x. 163.
[454]. Arab. “Bid’ah,” lit. = an innovation, a new thing, an invention, any change from the custom of the Prophet and the universal practice of the Faith, whether it be in the cut of the beard or a question of state policy. Popularly the word = heterodoxy, heresy; but theologically it is not necessarily used in a bad sense. See vol. v. 167.
[455]. About three parts of this sentence have been supplied by Mr. Payne, the careless scribe having evidently omitted it.
[456]. Here, as in the Introduction (vol. i. 24), the king consummates his marriage in presence of his virgin sister-in-law, a process which decency forbids amongst Moslems.
[457]. Al-Mas’udi (vol. iv. 213) uses this term to signify viceroy in “Shahryár Sajastán.”
[458]. i.e. his indifference to the principles of right and wrong, which is a manner of moral intoxication.
[459]. i.e. hath mentioned the office of Wazir (in Koran xx. 30).
[460]. i.e. Moslems, who practise the Religion of Resignation.
[461]. Koran xxxiii. 35. This is a proemium to the “revelation” concerning Zayd and Zaynab.
[462]. i.e. I have an embarras de richesse in my repertory.